Central SA
SAHRC gives Masilonyana seven days to provide residents with water─── ZENANDE MPAME 10:18 Thu, 19 Jun 2025
The Masilonyana Municipality has been granted a seven-day grace period following a court order to provide residents with safe drinking water.
The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in the Free State gave the municipality until Wednesday, 25 June, to ensure residents have water.
The SAHRC obtained a court order against the municipality on Friday (12/6), urging the municipality to take urgent steps to ensure residents of Winburg have safe drinking water.
However, residents haven’t had running tap water since last Tuesday. This is not new to Winburg residents, as they experienced weak streams of water for 13 out of 36 days in December.
“Since 2024, we have lodged complaints to the HRC, as well as other towns like Theunissen and Brandfort, which also lodged complaints on water challenges,” said Michael Landsman, Winburg Lesawell NGO founder.
“We, as the community of Makeleketla, decided that we’ve had enough of this neglected municipality and the mismanagement here. The community and animals suffer.
“Currently, we haven’t had water since last Tuesday, despite the court order ordering them to supply water to the community, they still fail to do so,” he said.
The court declared the municipality and the municipal manager’s conduct, of failing to consistently supply the residents of Winburg, Makeleketla, and surrounding informal settlements with safe drinking water, as unlawful and inconsistent with the constitution.
The court further ordered Masilonyana and its manager to immediately provide the residents with safe drinking water using water tankers, if an immediate water supply of potable water is not possible.
Lastly, the municipality and the municipal manager are to issue notices to communities and residents in the event of any planned and unplanned disruptions in the supply of safe drinking water.
“The municipality acknowledges and notes a court order obtained by the SAHRC, ordering the municipality to immediately take necessary steps to ensure there is a supply of safe drinking water to residents of Winburg,” said Zongezile Ntjwabule, municipal spokesperson.
“Our team has been working on a burst main clear water pipeline since Tuesday, and upon completion, the pipeline was pressure-tested, and it burst again.
“Updates will be provided to the community while we’re delivering potable water by trucks,” he said.
